Fake News App in Hacking Team Dump Designed to Bypass Google Play

We analyzed the recent Hacking Team dump and found a sample of a fake news app that appears to be designed to circumvent filtering in Google Play. This is following news that iOS devices are at risk of spyware related to the Hacking Team. The fake news app was downloaded up to 50 times before it was removed from Google Play on July 7.

The “BeNews” app is a backdoor app that uses the name of defunct news site “BeNews” to appear legitimate. We found the backdoor’s source code in the leak, including a document that teaches customers how to use it. Based on these, we believe that the Hacking Team provided the app to customers to be used as a lure to download RCSAndroid malware on a target’s Android device.


Source: [link to blog.trendmicro.com]